University News

October 22, 2012

Six MVSU students won
honors in the John Marshall Gulf Coast Regional Undergraduate Diversity Mock
Trial Competition at the Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, La.,
October 7.

Larry W. Chappell,
university pre-law adviser, professor of political science and coordinator of
the political science program who coaches mock trial the team said, "I am
very pleased that the season is off to such a good start. I was very concerned
about a team with no members who have any experience competing at the
collegiate level. Fortunately, we have a strong and dedicated group this year.
I think we will be very competitive in the remaining regional and national
competitions.”

In the John Marshall Diversity
format, students are assigned to teams with students from other colleges and
universities. Each student must play five roles during the course of three
trial rounds: 1) opening attorney, 2) closing attorney, 3) directing attorney,
4) crossing attorney and 5) witness.

The MVSU Mock Trial Team has been
participating in the competition since 1998. The team is the only one at a
historically black university in Mississippi and one of the very few in the
nation.

In its first year in regional
competition, the team won the award for “best new team” at the Birmingham
Regional of the American Mock Trial Association at Samford University. In
2011 and 2012, the team participated in the John Marshall Regional and National
Undergraduate Diversity Mock Trial Competitions, which are sanctioned by AMTA,
receiving awards there as well.

MVSU President Donna H. Oliver said,
“For fourteen years, the Mississippi Valley State University Mock Trial Team
has competed with students all over the U.S. and has shown they can compete
with the best.”

“Under the leadership of Dr.
Chappell, the year has gotten off to a good start and I believe their
accomplishments have only just begun,” said Oliver.

MVSU
student winners are:

Arlinda Carter - Sophomore
Criminal Justice major from Greenville, Miss., won top honors at the
tournament. Individually, she won the First Place Overall Advocate Award.
She also participated on the team (along with students from Southern
University and Loyola University of New Orleans) that won first place. For
her efforts, she won $15,000 in Law School Scholarship

Jacqueline Stokes - Senior Political Science major from
Yazoo City, Miss., won Third Place Overall Advocate, and her team finished
third in the competition. She earned $7,000 in Law School Scholarships

Kylon Alford-Windfield - Senior Political Science major
from Jackson, Miss., won Fourth Place Overall Advocate and his team
finished second in the competition. He earned $7,500 in Law School
Scholarships

Darren Woodson - Senior Business Administration major
from Picayune, Miss., was on the team that finished third in the
competition. He earned $2,500 in Law School Scholarships

Gianni Williams -
Sophomore Biology major from Greenwood, Miss., received an honorable
mention

Upcoming
competitions include Southeast Diversity Mock Trial Competition, February
15-16, 2013 at Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tenn., and the National
Undergraduate Diversity Mock Trial Competition, April 12-13, 2013 at the John
Marshall Law School in Chicago, Ill.

Initially
created by the state legislature in 1946 to train teachers for rural and
elementary schools in the Mississippi Delta, Mississippi Valley State
University is one of eight state supported institutions for higher education in
the state of Mississippi’s consortium of Institutions for Higher Learning
(IHL)

Mississippi Valley State University
is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of
Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's and master’s degrees. Contact the
Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Ga., 30033-4097 or
call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Mississippi Valley
State University.